A person’s social behavior, habits and character may have many different origins, determinations or reasons, either material or spiritual, either physical or metaphysical. It is a certain fact that a major orientation among the attempts of explaining the human being in its manifestation is the one involving astronomy and astrology, which appears as a bridge, a link between the humanity and the universe. There are many different zodiacs (systems of categories and determinations) that can give precious information about a person based on the complete date of birth, and one of them is the Chinese zodiac.
The origins of the Chinese Zodiac lie in a legend about Buddha: he is said to have summoned all the animals, before the time of his departure, and the first who have answered his calling were, in this specific order, the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and the pig. This zodiac is used since the ninth century in China, and its major characteristic is that it is centered on the personality profile, and not on the destiny’s prediction. Every one of these twelve animals is associated with a year, and so, according to the Chinese astrology, the year of our birth leads us to the finding of the animal hidden inside our heart.
Another important aspect when it comes to the Chinese horoscope is the combination between five elements, the ones that form the universe: metal, water, wood, fire and soil. The elements have their own meaning, as they are symbols for certain characteristics that define one’s personality. The metal is usually associated with rough, bold temperament, the water describes flexible, undecided persons, (the typology of a dominated character), wood is the native element of ethics and generosity, fire is the sign of leadership, determination, strength and creativity, and earth is the mark of hardworking, objective, practical persons. So, we can certainly say that the Chinese signs of the zodiac can be classified based on their associated element.
The Chinese zodiac year does not start with January the first, but somewhere between the 21 January and 20 February (the second new moon, after the winter solstice), and this is a very important basis for the differences between years, as symbols of a certain kind of personality.
When it comes to the Chinese zodiac, these two leading principals of the internal order melt in order to give the categories of the zodiac. Therefore, we have about five subspecies for every major zodiac sign: the metal animal, the water animal, the wood animal, the fire animal and the earth animal, therefore, sixty different typologies.
These are some of the years included in the Chinese calendar astrology for every animal, so that you can calculate your own sign, given the fact that the repetitive cycle is twelve years: rat-1912, ox-1913, tiger-1914, rabbit-1915, dragon-1916, snake-1917, horse-1918, sheep-1919, monkey-1920, rooster-1921, dog-1922, and pig-1923.
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Article Source: A Few Words About The Chinese Zodiac